Even though Marvel and DC are set to dominate the box office this year, that doesn’t mean that you can’t still Back British Film. From comedies to crime dramas, social realism to fantasy, documentary to dystopian horror, 2016 is going to be yet another great year for British film.
Here are 10 of the home-grown productions that will be hitting cinemas this year (+ one bonus title too).
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them
Starting off the list with a film that will definitely give Marvel and DC a run for their money, Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them will finally give Potterheads some new material after the end of the Harry Potter film series in 2011. Directed by David Yates, the film is based off the book of the same name by J.K. Rowling and is set seventy years before the Harry Potter octalogy in 1920s New York. The film stars Eddie Redmayne as writer Newt Scamander, a wizard with a fascination for magical creatures.
Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them is set to be released in November.
A Hundred Streets
A Hundred Streets is a multi-layered drama feature film based in London, starring Idris Elba and Gemma Arterton & will be released this year. [1]
Eddie the Eagle
Inspired by true events, Eddie the Eagle is a feel-good story about Michael “Eddie” Edwards (Taron Egerton), an unlikely but courageous British ski-jumper who never stopped believing in himself – even as an entire nation was counting him out. With the help of a rebellious and charismatic coach (played by Hugh Jackman), Eddie takes on the establishment and wins the hearts of sports fans around the world by making an improbable and historic showing at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. From producers of Kingsman: The Secret Service, Eddie the Eagle stars Taron Egerton as Eddie, the loveable underdog with a never say die attitude. [2]
Eddie the Eagle will fly into cinemas February 26th.
Kids In Love
Kids in Love is a coming of age drama about a group of young friends live their days in London today, imitating art and enjoying a fast-paced lifestyle. The film stars Will Poulter, Alma Jodorowsky, Sebastian de Souza, and Cara Delevingne. [3]
Grimsby
Nobby (Sacha Baron Cohen), a sweet but dimwitted English football hooligan, reunites with his long-lost brother Sebastian (Mark Strong), a deadly MI6 agent, to prevent a massive global terror attack and prove that behind every great spy is an embarrassing sibling.
Nobby has everything a man from Grimsby could want, including 11 children and the most gorgeous girlfriend in the northeast of England (Rebel Wilson). There’s only one thing missing: his little brother, Sebastian, who Nobby has spent 28 years searching for after they were separated as kids. Nobby sets off to reunite with Sebastian, unaware that not only is his brother MI6’s deadliest assassin, but he’s just uncovered plans for an imminent global terrorist attack. On the run and wrongfully accused, Sebastian realizes that if he is going to save the world, he will need the help of its biggest idiot. [4]
Grimsby is set to be released February 24th.
Life On The Road
Set 15 years after the events of The Office, David Brent, a sales rep after leaving Wernham Hogg, is on tour. He believes he will be filmed like Martin Scorsese did with The Rolling Stones — although it’s actually a ‘where are they now’ type documentary. He takes a holiday to tour with his band Foregone Conclusion but has to use his pension to fund part of his rock concert, as the ticket sales are less than he can afford to pay his band members.
Dom Johnson (Ben Bailey Smith) will travel alongside Brent who is holding Johnson’s career back as a musician. [5]
High-Rise
Based on the novel of the same name by J.G. Ballard, High-Rise is set in London in 1975 and stars Tom Hiddleston as Robert Laing, a young doctor seduced by the lifestyle in a high-rise, an isolated community, cut off from the rest of society in their luxury tower block, and its creator, the architect Anthony Royal (Jeremy Irons). Taking up residence on the twenty-fifth floor, Laing discovers a world of complex loyalties, and also strikes up a relationship with Royal’s devoted aide Charlotte (Sienna Miller). After Laing befriends Richard Wilder (Luke Evans), a documentary filmmaker relegated to the second floor who is determined to provoke the class injustices inherent in the high-rise, a dangerous social situation develops and the high-rise eventually fragments into violent tribes. [6]
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie
Edina and Patsy are still oozing glitz and glamor, living the high life they are accustomed to; shopping, drinking and clubbing their way around London’s trendiest hot-spots. Blamed for a major incident at an uber fashionable launch party, they become entangled in a media storm and are relentlessly pursued by the paparazzi. Fleeing penniless to the glamorous playground of the super-rich, the French Riviera, they hatch a plan to make their escape permanent and live the high life forever more! [8]
Ab Fab will hit the big screen July 1st.
The Other Side Of The Door
A family lives an idyllic existence abroad until a tragic accident takes the life of their young son. The inconsolable mother learns of an ancient ritual that will bring him back to say a final goodbye. She travels to an ancient temple, where a door serves as a mysterious portal between two worlds. But when she disobeys a sacred warning to never open that door, she upsets the balance between life and death. [9]
The Survivalist
In a time of starvation, a survivalist lives off a small plot of land hidden deep in forest. When two women seeking food and shelter discover his farm, he finds his existence threatened. [10]
bonus
Sing Street
Despite not technically being a British film, this Irish film is well worth a mention on this list.
Sing Street is inspired by writer/director John Carney’s life and love for music, and tells the story of a 14-year-old named Cosmo growing up in 80’s Dublin who must break free of a home strained by his parents’ relationship and money troubles, deal with his drop-out older brother’s antics, and survive a new public school where the kids are rough and the brothers are tougher.
Cosmo writes a song, forms a scrappy band with some school mates, writes more songs, and shoots some wicked music videos. How to shoot pop videos in a recession ridden country? Beg, borrow and steal. And steal.
But when he realizes he can’t save his family, he must make a family of his own. [7]
Sing Street is set for release on March 18th.